IDC has issued its latest report looking at the state of the PC industry. The company predicts that PC shipments will fall by 10.1% in 2013. This will be the worst year of contraction on record if IDC is correct.

IDC says that interest in PCs is very limited, giving little indication of positive growth other than replacing of existing systems. IDC is also predicting that sales of PCs will decline an additional 3.8% in 2014 before getting a little more positive in the long term.

IDC predicts that total PC shipments for 2013 will be a bit over 300 million units. That is only slightly ahead of the volume of PCs shipped in 2008.

"Perhaps the chief concern for future PC demand is a lack of reasons to replace an older system," said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly PC Trackers at IDC. "While IDC research finds that the PC still remains the primary computing device – for example, PCs are used more hours per day than tablets or phones – PC usage is nonetheless declining each year as more devices become available.”

“And despite industry efforts, PC usage has not moved significantly beyond consumption and productivity tasks to differentiate PCs from other devices. As a result, PC lifespans continue to increase, thereby limiting market growth."

IDC does believe that 2-in-1 devices that can function as tablets and notebooks will drive some growth for Windows devices. IDC also predicts significant growth for Windows-based tablets with 29.3 million units in 2017 up from 7.5 million in 2013.

Well, I build my own and I always will. I don't think i will go to tablet anytime soon, I mean what for? I have a smart phone that does what I need it to, I have no need for a laptop, so all i need is my custom built PC and a smart phone so... /shrug